Hello, Again

April has been a very busy month! I spent a little time in Arizona, visiting Emily in Tucson, and picking up my mom in Prescott. I've been working on bird projects with two groups of third-graders all month: 75 different bird projects that needed resources, organization, writing instruction, proofreading, etc. Then there was Easter, which is always a big deal at our house. This year was no exception: 39 people and 5 dogs (and it was raining!). Then I got sick!

April is the cruelest month, it turns out.

Anyway...all this stuff has been cutting into my saling time. Today, the last day of April, coincides with the annual Mary Lou Heard garden tour. This is an annual event for Carol & me. Before we hit the tour we managed to scrape up one interesting goodie: an aluminum chair (at least I think it's aluminum). I think it will be fun in my garden, but only if it's in the shade...wouldn't want to cause any second-degree burns. I like it! $20.

Here are a few shots from the garden tour. Most of these people have all kinds of little goodies that they've scraped up at yard sales and flea markets tucked away in their amazing gardens. (I'm going to be on the lookout for a moon gazing pond...see the little one with the frog?) Inspiring, but also somewhat disheartening. These gardens are full-time jobs, and unfortunately, I already have one of those. Someday I look forward to full-time puttering.

How's your April going?

Malicious Skippers

There was not much activity this weekend, so this will be a short post. Carol did find a pretty good bike for $10. Her sweetie, Al, has started repairing bikes to donate to children. Here's the $10 find (complete with bell!) and the repairman himself in his shop.

I found another good hat. (Summer's coming). Several boxes of thank-you cards. The woman said, "No one writes any more." And a bunch of books. This woman was clearly searching for something: she had books on every major religion, poetry anthologies, essays, and books of prayers. I was inspired to do a small bit of searching myself. So these are what I bought. However, the only one I've even spent any time at all with is the National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. (Look! They're $19.95 new!) I thought I already had every field guide they've ever produced, but no! Here's what I've learned so far: there is an entire class of butterflies called Fritillaries. There are Coppers, Blues, Elfins, Sulphurs, and Hairstreaks. Aren't they great names? And then there are the Skippers, including the Malicious Skipper which frankly, sounds a little oxymoronic to me. There's nothing terribly malicious in the description.

Anyway...I spent a total of $6. Now I'm going to put on my hat and go outside to read.